Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary dies of acute myelogenous leukemia

September 17, 3:10 PMBlood Cancers ExaminerCathy Doheny

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Mary Travers, of the 1960's folk sensation Peter, Paul and Mary, died on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, at the age of 72, after battling acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) for several years. Diagnosed with the blood cancer in 2004, she was first admitted for chemotherapy at Danbury Hospital. She then underwent her second round of chemo at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Unable to achieve a complete remission with chemotherapy, Travers made the difficult decision to undergo a transplant. In her case, doctors chose an allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplant (allo PBSCT) rather than a traditional bone marrow transplant. This procedure uses stem cells harvested from a  donor's bloodstream, rather than those surgically extracted straight from the bone marrow. This procedure is less invasive for the donor than a traditional bone marrow transplant and has the same basic end result for the recipient in that it helps to build a new immune system and eradicate the fast moving cancer of the blood and bone marrow. (Peripheral blood stem cell transplants are far more common now than traditional bone marrow transplants for this very reason.)

In an article published in the Connecticut Post on November 4, 2006, Travers said,

At that point, you have to go for the transplant or give it up. And I wasn't going to give up without a little more struggle.

So in April of 2005 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Travers received an allo PBSCT from a matched unrelated donor (MUD) listed on the National Marrow Donor Program Registry (now known as the Be The Match registry). The match was nine points out of ten, and in a note to fans published on the Peter, Paul and Mary site, Travers said,

We found a match - well, almost. Nine points out of ten. I hate to say this but it's close enough for folk music.

The transplant was a success, and Travers returned home exactly one month following her transplant. She even had the privilege of meeting her stem cell donor, Mary Hessen, from just outside of Detroit, to whom she expressed enormous gratitude.

Travers returned to leukemia-free living and enjoyed performing until mid-2009, when her condition worsened again. In a letter dated June 30, 2009, President Barack Obama offered his thoughts, prayers, and admiration as she "continued her brave battle."

Travers died Wednesday in Danbury Hospital. She is survived by her husband, Ethan Robbins, and two daughters, Alicia and Erika.

*This undated photo show Mary Travers. Travers, one-third of the popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 in a Connecticut hospital after battling leukemia for several years. She was 72. (AP Photo)

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